“There is a thin line between self-indulgence and being a dickhead, a line that any bartender could draw for you.” That’s how Jenn Wohletz started Friday’s piece “five cocktails only a dickhead could love,” and dozens of commenters — bartenders included — thought she definitely crossed that line with her…
Aviano Coffee just closed its third location — but the good news is that this closure is only temporary. The homegrown coffee shop — which started out in the Beauvallon, then moved to Cherry Creek, then had to move abruptly in January because of a development project — is now…
Service has been a big topic on Cafe Society this week, what with Jonathan Greschler getting the boot from Old Major for his apparent inability to connect with his former staff, despite the fact that guests adore him. “Jonathan is amazing with customers, but I just don’t think he applied…
I interview numerous chefs who lament the lack of good Mexican food in a city that’s steeped in green chile and home to some marvelous taquerias. But when I go to a place like this, where my relleno has clearly been microwaved and the guacamole is absent of any seasoning,…
Have El Diablo and Sketch reached the end of the line? According to El Diablo’s Facebook page, the restaurants will be closing at the end of business tonight: “Please come by and send us off in style!!!” This is the culmination — maybe — of a ten-month-long fight with the…
The fact that Pho Lee, subject of this week’s review, serves up such terrific pho (not to mention Vietnamese egg rolls, grilled meats and boba smoothies) isn’t such a surprise, given that the owner, Dung Anh Le, worked at Pho 95, his brother’s pho shop, for years. What might catch…
I love tasting menus, much the same way that I’m a proponent of communal tables and hanging my butt at the bar, which is where I prefer to eat. And if I can get a tasting menu at the bar, with wine pairings, even better. Yes, I like extended, evening-long…
I was back in Denver for three weeks last month, during which I ate what was basically one continuous meal interspersed with brief lulls that occurred when I had to switch venues or go to sleep (which was sort of often, given the food comas and also the drowsiness that…
I’m not at all sorry I missed being an adult in the 1970s. There were terrible fashion trends with bell bottom pants and clogs with heels, and worse hairstyles with that feathered look; the porn was all sweaty and hairy, and the food trends were…well, Irma Rombauer’s Joy of Cooking…
Announcement: We have a winner of our Victor Hugo wine dinner contest. Congrats to Sallymander1029, who guessed seventeen – the exact number of times that Aileen saw Les Misérables on Broadway. Sally, we’ll send you can e-mail about how you can claim your prize. On Thursday night, at 7 p.m.,…
My own lunch was disappointing, but my date’s lunch — tomato soup and Bolognese with penne — was anything but, especially that tomato soup, which should really be sold by the gallon. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to a Guess…
This is part two of my interview with Michael Pollan, author of Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation; Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual; The Omnivore’s Dilemma; In Defense of Food; Second Nature; The Botany of Desire and A Place of My Own. Part one of Pollan’s musings ran yesterday. Pollan…
Three hours south of Denver, a husband-and-wife team of ranchers are working hard to help reintroduce Colorado lamb to the meat-devouring public. As detailed in this week’s cover story, “Counting Sheep,” the Triple M Bar Ranch in Manzanola ships lamb to over a dozen restaurants and caterers, who use it…
After Opus left Littleton last summer, it moved up to Cherry Creek, where it merged with Aria. Last week chef Sean McGaughey unveiled the new look and menu of Opus Restaurant & Aria Wine Bar at 250 Josephine, a location that has swallowed up many previous occupants. Can the Opus/Aria…
Avocados used to be in the same class as pomegranates, hard to find in small grocery stores and displayed with growers’ signs for how to slice and use them. These days, though, avocados are everywhere: forming beds for scrambled eggs, lining bruschetta, mashed with garlic, lime and cilantro in the…
Curt Sims and his wife, Pam, opened Cantina last Friday at 1109 Lincoln Street, which most recently was home to the Hive. Curt Sims owns the building, which long ago was the Denver Buffalo Company; the last time the couple ran a restaurant there, it was Cielo. But that’s not…
Vietnamese soup is good food any time of the year, and always fun to accessorize with fresh vegetables and spicy sauces — but on a cold day like today, a great bowl of pho is enough to bowl you over. Fortunately, in Denver our cup runneth over with pho spots…
Pete Marczyk and Barbara Macfarlane do not leave their work behind when they leave Marczyk Fine Foods and head for their great old Denver house with the big, new kitchen. They often bring some of their market’s choicest ingredients home with them and cook up a feast. There’s a huge…
Brunch was recently introduced to the lineup of this restaurant-of-the-moment, which, along with serving a slew of knock-out morning glories, also turns out a brilliant bloody Mary. Can you guess where I’m drinking? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to a Guess Where post is entered into…
In A Federal Case, I’ll be eating my way up Federal Boulevard — south to north — within Denver city limits. I’ll be skipping the national chains and per-scoop Chinese joints, but otherwise I’ll report from every vinyl booth, walk-up window and bar stool where food is served. Here’s the…
This is part one of my interview with Michael Pollan, author of Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation; Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual; The Omnivore’s Dilemma; In Defense of Food; Second Nature; The Botany of Desire and A Place of My Own. Part two of Pollan’s musings will run tomorrow…
Over two dozen eateries opened in metro Denver in April, everything from coffeehouses to second outposts for local breweries (Upslope and Renegade) to a third spot for Ali Baba to a tenth restaurant for Bonanno Concepts, Bonanno Brothers Pizzeria. But Denver also lost an institution: Strings closed after 27 years…
